Everex XT5000T Support thread

Hey, does anyone have the step-by-step guide to disassembling this laptop to install a CPU as well as any tips. I'll look through the forum again, but figured I'd post this just in case. I bought a Turion 64 X2 TL-64 2.2Ghz : D

Thanks
 
fredbro2009 said:
Nah, not when it's completely dry, I used car paint and clear coat! :D
Click to expand...

How did you paint this on? I love the look of that thing!

I was actually going to take my freinds old laptop (14" Sony Vaio P4 2.4Ghz AMD 64MB 9700) and make a "Spider Man"-like laptop, painting the entire thing jet black & doing some dark red spider thing on the back & install red LED fans to keep it cool (& glow red). - that is, until he nuked the BIOS by shutting down midway through a BIOS flashing.

I would be interested to know the application method - if its anything that I can do without using one of those professional spray machines, let me know.

Also, I've looked through the forum & haven't found a guide to take the laptop appart to add a new CPU in, but I'm transfering all my files to a TB HDD right now.
 
Meleniumshane90 said:
How did you paint this on? I love the look of that thing!

I was actually going to take my freinds old laptop (14" Sony Vaio P4 2.4Ghz AMD 64MB 9700) and make a "Spider Man"-like laptop, painting the entire thing jet black & doing some dark red spider thing on the back & install red LED fans to keep it cool (& glow red). - that is, until he nuked the BIOS by shutting down midway through a BIOS flashing.

I would be interested to know the application method - if its anything that I can do without using one of those professional spray machines, let me know.

Also, I've looked through the forum & haven't found a guide to take the laptop appart to add a new CPU in, but I'm transfering all my files to a TB HDD right now.
Click to expand...
Well, basically, I took the whole computer apart, and cleaned the pieces I wanted to paint with alcohol. I then took some Bull Dog Adhesion Promoter and sprayed three coats on the parts I wanted to paint. The only downside is that I did use a professional spray gun and air compressor, since my dad owns a body and paint shop.
 
Thanks for the quick response. Sounds very cool - I actually found out that the really good brand spray paints (the one for outdoor chairs & such) will work good as well. Obviously won't be quite at your level, but as close as I can get. I will work on that later on.

I'm installing my CPU right now. I'm trying to figure out the best way to apply the heatsink.
The choices I see possible:
* Re-use those thermal pads that they had on the original setup.
* Arctic Silver 5

Now, if I apply the AS5, I have read that there will be a gap. One person on here said they used a dime - that sounds a bit sketchy to me, but if its safe, alright.

Also, I ran the Windows 7 Performance tests on various configurations with this computer that I will post once I boot with the new CPU.

Thanks
 
Everything went smoothly - kinda.

I removed the thermal pads from the heatsink (glorified piece of copper) and cleaned them thoroughly with alcohol wipes.I cleaned the GPU copper carefully in the same manner & I dried both of them off.

I sat the heatsink on top of everything to see if there were going to be gaps as people have discussed and it looked like the heatsink's pipe was bowing upward (which would explain how the screw-holes on aluminum fin "1" and "3" were making contact with the motherboard, but "2" and "4" were not.

Turns out, the copper pipe is very mailable, so there is a tiny dip in mine : D oh well.

Now to the issues. I boot, the motherboard recognizes the cpu, but it is registered as an "unknown AMD cpu". But it did boot, and I wasn't detecting any major heat, as I still have the bottom door off.

I boot to Windows 7 again & immediately load PC Wizard and CPU-Z. I look at my CPU temperatures.

The CPU Core 1 is in the mid to upper 60s & Core 2 is 70. Well thats unusually high for my computer.. I minimize it so it actively refreshes the temperatures and notice both cores going up.. Well now I know that the heatsink isn't making perfect contact with the CPU. I apply pressure to the top of the heatsink and the temperatures immediately drop to the low 60s.

Off to the drawing board...

Two things: To anyone who has upgraded the CPU on their laptop & had at least one issue, or knows of a solution.

1. What is the easiest way to get the motherboard to recognize the CPU - not a big deal, but I'm sure theres something bad about that. It is registering 2.2Ghz, so its working alright.

2. What is the best way to make sure there is even contact with the CPU.
 
Sorry to post 3 in a row..

Just an update, I bent the heatpipe a bit while it was on there so its stable for the time being. Its temps under load do not go past 72C (Core 1 is warmer one, I made a mistake above) at 72C and core 2 topped out at 69C. The GPU topped out at 71C. This is a bit higher than I want, but its lower than Everex stock temperatures, so I'm pretty happy. See what a little AC5 can do? And I haven't even hit 4 hours on this thing, let alone the 200 hour "break-in" period.

I really liked fredbro2009's painted case, so much so that I am going to paint mine in a few weeks. I'm going to order some copper & small 5V fans to cool this thing the way it should have been. When I do it, I'll make a website with a step-by-step guide & some other little bonuses. Still looking for recommendations for the above question.

Thanks guys!
 
Tanware ran a T64 so hopefully he will chime in for you.

A couple of things you need to do.

1) the 4 metal arms attached to the heatsink, bend them up slightly so that you will get better compression when reattaching the heatsink. Follow the 1234 pattern in tighting the screw.

2) lapping the heatsink will also help some.

3) where the heatpipe attaches to the gpu heatsink remove the thermal pad and use ICD7 for it will fill the gap.

4) my preference for thermal compoud on the cpu is AS5 or AS ceramique. ICD7 and although a very good TIM it is extremely thick and requires alot of compression to squeeze it. Also there was a clear plastic coating on parts of my HS, remove it.

5) undervolt with RM Clock and you will see temp drops on the cpu.

6) I have found that the turion cores can vary +/- 10 degrees, my tl60 varied approx 6-8 degrees per core and that was one of the 65nm chips vs the 90nm chips.

7) The TL-60 and 800 ram are the ideal sweet spot for these machines as it runs the ram at 1:1.

8) update to BIOS 1.1D, . This version keeps the fan running all the time. http://www.pcambrosia.com/xt5000t/ bottom of the page, hosting courtsey of Tanware.
 
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I'm new, is this posted in the wrong place? I crawled over my laptop and cracked the LCD to bits. Thanks, Jon
 
Look on ebay for monitors? kind of expensive tho...
And i just upgraded my everex to a tl-62. I used artic silver and didnt do anything to the heatsink. My temps are around 120F when idling. ( but i have a small 5 volt fan blowing at the gpu)
 
Thank you for the tips!

I actually used AC5 for everything, and bent the heatpipe (though not the most ideal) to allow it to make proper contact with the CPU & GPU's heatsink.

I'm already running the 1.1D BIOS - definite performance increase from the 1.1E (as you guys will see in my next post).

I will "lap" the heatsink when I order my copper - I didn't get it mirror-quality like I would like, its basically just a clean version of what it was.

andy A said:
7) The TL-60 and 800 ram are the ideal sweet spot for these machines as it runs the ram at 1:1.
Click to expand...
The only question I actually had - my ram tops out at around 320Mhz. I was going to pickup 4 GB of DDR2-SODIMM 800 from NewEgg, but I chose not to after reading that & seeing it proven to me when I used 2 667s on my laptop. Is there some way to get 400Mhz (800) to work on here?

Just to clarify, because I didn't understand "lap" when i first read that, here is a good guide to "Lapping":
How to Lap a Heatsink

Here's something weird; it says my CPU Is 65nm, not 90nm. CPU-Z often has difficulty (AM3 recognized as AM2+, etc.), but I've never had a misidentification that big with PC Wizard. I'm wondering, if thats the case, if it can be upgraded further.
 
For the memory it has to do with the memory controller being builtin to the processor. I'm a little rusty here so bear with me and hopefully someone else will correct me where I'm wrong.

The 5000 and 5300 will both support up to DDR2-800

In the case of a TL-60 and DDR2-800 it will run the ran at 1:1 because 400 goes into 2000 5 times even. If one was using DDR2-667 and a TL-60 it would run the ram at 333. 2000/333=6. TL-68's will also run 1:1 with DDR2-800, 2400/400 = 6, but for those that tried a TL-68 the temps were way to high.

In the case of a TL-64 and DDR2-800 it would try to run at a 5.5 divider, 2200/400 =5.5 and it is not capable of half dividers. Essentialy it will down clock 800 ram and run it at a 7 divider. 2200/320 = 6.875 or approx 7 the next nearest whole divider. There is no way to get DDR2-800 to run 1:1 with a TL-64

Searching google will yield better results than my descriptions.

TL-62 and TL-66's will not run properly in the 5000 and 5300 because they want to use a half divider, this was proven on the old everex board for those that tried.

As for CPU-Z reporting a 65nm core that is fine, there were 2 versions of the TL-64, both 65nm cores and 90nm cores you just happened to get ahold of a 65nm version.

As for lapping. a mirror finish is not necessarily required, the idea is just to get a nice smooth "flat" surface. Wet sanding to a 320 to 400 grit finish will be fine The HS in my old 5000 was pretty rough.
 
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I didn't think this machine could run 65nm - they said they used the same slot type, but AMD has been known to keep the same slot number for different sized CPUs.

Question on that - what is the true max CPU for this thing (heat issues aside). I would like to put the fastest CPU in here - might as well get the greatest performance I can while they are cheap!

Edit: Nevermind that, they are like $200+ - even the 66s are $100. I got mine for 79 shipped, so I'm good.

-Shane
 
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Yep can run 65nm processors just fine. I ran and the machine is still running a a 65nm TL-60.

TL-68 is max supported, but I would not try it because those that did were never able to control the heat.
 
Here is a link to the difference the 1.1D BIOS make compared to 1.1E. I've also done a comparisson of RAM & the stock CPU vs a TL-64.

Keep in mind, I didn't do any real benchmarks, just the garbage Windows 7 rating. Despite that, there is a noticeable difference as far as Microsoft is concerned.
Here is the link
 
I am Looking to repair this laptop (i hope).

I spent hours looking for a service manual. :confused:

Im having trouble removing the base cover. It seems there is a screw i may be missing under the keyboard? Im afraid to pry anything and I dont understand how to remove the cover. I hope somone can help me.

Problem: no power

I tested the power adapter and the battery with a meter and they are fine
no power shows on laptop.....ie no lights blips or beeps...nada nothing.
Im guessing that it may be the dc conector or the power button board?
 
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i haveone that might be able to be revived. screen is fine and it has the big targus plug. 160 shipped in my fs thread
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1470826

. open to offers

has the tl60 and ill ship with the tl50 as well. battery is still good. no harddrive or ram

its good for spare parts if nothing else :)
 
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fuertetwo said:
Hey guys and girl(s), long time lurker, first time poster.
First of all I'd like to thank the regular posters for their hard work and info. With the help of the everex forum members and this one I have successfully solved or found work-arounds for many of the design issues that this laptop has. Your work and skills do not go unappreciated.
Having experienced the dreaded video lockup, I baked my mobo earlier this year. After reassembly my laptop wouldn't start and I gave it up as dead. Recently I've tried at assembling it again and got it working :D. Only to remember why I was so quick to give it up the first time, usb connections don't work. It didn't work before the bake either. Without usb I can't use any usb peripherals rendering the thing damn near useless for my purposes. The odd thing is that usb devices still get power but don't function in any os, linux or xp. I've tried plugging a usb adapter into the pcmcia slot with no success. I've also tried to find a mini pcie usb adapter with no success.
Let me know if you have something I should try, any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...

Chances are that the USB issues you are having are related to the video issues, both related to cracking of RoHS solder joints due to shutting down the machine quickly after flexing of the board under high temps... Would help if people wait a few minutes to let the machine idle for a bit before shutting off, after extreme gaming/graphics work or CPU intensive tasks (since the components are all so close, and the heat piping is shared between CPU and GPU/NB)..

From: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=57021&start=120
Well, the good question is: Does the reball companies use the better solder than original one ? As there were some rumors about the fact that GPU/USB problems are caused by the fragile solder compliant with RoHS standards.
Click to expand...
 
Update: Today I've bought a new KADA 852 SMD Rework Station which is realtively cheap (search it on the web or ebay for prices in your country). Please note this is not the same as the KADA 852D+ which has digital display.. this one only has temperate & air flow dials (2 temp dials for air + iron). Exact replica of this station for same/close price is the Aoyue 852, and I've heard many good things about both, locally, keeping in mind both being a great bang-for-the-buck :)

As a followup on one of my previous posts, and notes to self:
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1034462906&postcount=1937

And in response to enieves137, TANWare, and jh1523 on page 100 of this thread: http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1174232&page=100

@enieves137: If you've reflowed (or reballed, or replaced+reballed) the NB, you're probably also inadvertently reflowing the GPU, at least partially, since they're so close. No?:)

@jh1523:
And since RoHS is used here, chances are both the GPU & NB are both using lead-free solder, therefore we cannot say for certain than in all cases it is the GPU, or in all cases the NB (they're too close anyway, either - or both - can go due to flexing of the board due to high temps followed by quick shutdown)

@TANWare:
I don't think it matters whether the North Bridge's integrated GPU is initialized or not. The NB, aka Memory Controller Hub (MCH) or Integrated Memory Controller (IMC) typically handles communications between the CPU/RAM/BIOS-ROM/PCIE-or-AGP-video-cards and the south bridge. In some cases, such as in laptops', the NB also contains an integrated video controller, aka Graphics & Memory Controller Hub (GMCH). However, in our case, that is disabled by default (iirc, I was able to see this in nvidia-settings tool in linux). BUT that all doesn't really matter, because if the NB's joints on the PCB lost contacts, regardless of whether it has an integrated video controller, your entire system is hosed, because your CPU/RAM/BIOS/Video-card all lose communication with the south bridge, hence no BIOS POST. In the case the GPU is the one that had one (or more) of its joints break/crack, you also wont get a POST. So I don't really know how anyone can say for certain that the NB is always the one that fails and not the GPU (provided neither actually burnt out) ? ultrasound? :p
How can we be sure it's always the NB's BGA and not the GPU at fault, when many other owners of different laptop brand/models' inflicted with this RoHS problem (both on nVidia and ATI alike) have been successfully reflowing GPUs to fix their infamous "black screen" issue?

Notes to self:

Applying heat properly using a Hot Air Soldering / SMD rework Station:

Board should be preheated to 120C before heating up the GPU to remove any moisture trapped in the board to avoid popping or delamination.

230°C+ needed for lead-free solder melting-points. We need to add 20-30 degrees on that because we are not applying the heat directly on the solder, but on (or around) the edges of the GPU, and we need to make sure we get the solder balls (BGA joints) below the GPU at at least 230C. So hot air station / heatgun should be set to at least 250-260C.
One pro does 300C, but only for less than 2 minutes, and he really knows what he's doing... Any longer/higher exposure could easily toast the PCB or damage other parts..

Air has to be directed evenly in circular motion around the area in question. Whether GPU or NB or both, doesn't hurt to reflow both at same time..
Proper technique (and proper nozzle use) shown in the reballing youtube video I cited prior: http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=JB1InDsWCjQ
Note, however, we're not going to remove the chip to reball, we're just going to reflow, starting around 4:53 in that video..

The video from my earlier post (TX 1000 GPU Hot air soldering):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqumzyLybrg
Looks like its directed at GPU and not the North Bridge.. Also looks like using medium nozzle instead of the wide one which I would use instead... OK..

Fixing a Failed nVidia GPU on Dell XPS 1330
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJlgPbELL0E
NOTICE: the "blue pad" like in our XT's are also used here.. I actually found them also in an ancient dell CptC laptop from 1999 :p
Anyways, the title says "Failed nVidia GPU", however, he's applying heat to the North Bridge, not the GPU? hmm
Some more issues with this instructional video I can foresee:
1. Using this narrowest nozzle makes for higher pressure air flow, which is usually only needed for removing small parts, afaik. Note he holds it at a distance from the chip. I think if he got any closer he could've easily made some small parts fly off the board once solder starts to melt around the chip..
2. Didn't take the board out of the casing (lazy), did not wrap it in foil to spread the heat and cut hole on top of GPU and North Bridge to keep heat focused around that area
3. Didn't preheat the board, which makes it vulnerable to popping/delamination

Some recommended to use "the correct" (which is?) liquid flux to chemically break down any oxidization on the BGA solder joints, and often not using it will not cause the solder to reflow properly or at all even when you're at the correct solder temperature.
Fluxing an Xbox 360
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2R_NqF5wAc

Perhaps I should find the said liquid flux before proceeding :rolleyes:

To be followed when I actually get the time to practice on some spare junk PCB's, disassemble the beast (again) and reflow it, hopefully to report success :)
 
You are right you can't be sure which fails just be pretty sure one of them failed. Whichever failed you can then be pretty suer the heat resettlin of the combo of both chips will cure the issue. Again though not a 100% guarenty but at least 98%.

My thoughts on this are ICD the NB to hopefully eliminate one of the chips from early failure. Also ICD on the heatpipe to GPU heatsink will further lower and stabalize the heatto the GPU somewhat. This with their bios that keeps the fan running all the time will help too. I called for tht bios mod right after I purchased my XT5000T and the users (and Everex) wanted to shoot me..............
 
TANWare said:
You are right you can't be sure which fails just be pretty sure one of them failed. Whichever failed you can then be pretty suer the heat resettlin of the combo of both chips will cure the issue. Again though not a 100% guarenty but at least 98%.
Click to expand...

yep, but keep in mind that GPU's tend to give off much more heat (Especially during 3d app gfx processing), and north bridges dont tend to get that hot... until recent years, many desktop motherboards never even had fans on North bridges, just heatsinks, and they typically run much cooler than CPU even w/ premium HSF.

So, GPU is more likely the culprit in most situations...

However, we have a unique exception in our case, since the NB & the GPU are so closely packed.. So it's not really far fetched that the blue "thermal" pad on the NB wore out, or was never making as good of contact as the one on the GPU with the shared heatsink. It's also possible that the excessive heat given off by the GPU was too much for the NB to bear at times causing the NB to burn out (rather than just have its BGA balls crack).. Who knows?

It's also not at all uncommon to see the South Bridge fail in some laptop mobo's (not just the NB), from what I've seen.

TANWare said:
My thoughts on this are ICD the NB to hopefully eliminate one of the chips from early failure. Also ICD on the heatpipe to GPU heatsink will further lower and stabalize the heatto the GPU somewhat.
Click to expand...

Second that thought... Although, ICD maybe a bit of an overkill here... iirc, the shared heatsink on top of the GPU/NB was fixated by a few small screws, which are probably holding it down tight.. Also the blue pad really thins out and squishes under pressure/heat (they're quite flexible/delicate). So I imagine that ICD is not really a necessity. It may also be hard to get outside the states.. If there's indeed a gap and conventional HSC does not suffice, I guess we can go for pennies (copper coin) or copper plate + HSC :p

TANWare said:
This with their bios that keeps the fan running all the time will help too. I called for tht bios mod right after I purchased my XT5000T and the users (and Everex) wanted to shoot me..............
Click to expand...

I actually had a thought recently about this.. I remember reading a while back on Ubuntu forums about DST table modifications during bootstrap (supported by Linux kernels natively) to fix many laptop/desktop motherboard/bios manufacturers woes (especially HP's/Dells).. There are open source tools out there that were described for use for: 1. Retrieving BIOS's DST table 2. Modifying the table 3. Recompiling the file after editing for loading at early kernel bootstrap time for modifying the BIOS table, irq/resources assignment to free up conflicts, change operating behavior, etc..
Don't know if this is possible with Windows too, I imagine it shouldn't be impossible though.. been a while

HOWTO Fix A Buggy DSDT File
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1036051

Interestingly, someone (more than 2 years back) posted a DSDT file with minor fix, but only for the Everex Stepnote NC1501/1502/1503
http://acpi.sourceforge.net/dsdt/view.php?id=884
Interpreter Fix Fixes cooling fan control so the fan doesn't stay on constantly
Click to expand...

Though no one that I know of has messed with the XT5000T's DSDT yet :rolleyes:
 
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ICD is overkill but these failures are an exrteme condition too so to me that merits overkill..... :)
 
I believe this laptop can run Windows 7 64bit correct? I would be extremely grateful if anyone could lead me to drivers that would work for this system to be able to run Windows 7 64-bit. (I assume the Vista 64 bit drivers might also work as well? / Would Windows Update find most of the drivers for me?)

Thanks in advance.
 
Syngensmyth said:
Here is the driver mirror page. Maybe a few of the drivers will be useful. At least the hardware specs will help. I think I ran Vista 64 on it without problem but can't remember exactly. It has been awhile.
Click to expand...

I have used these drivers before, but it looks like the only drivers on here are for the 32bit version of Windows. Do these still work for the 64bit, or are there unique drivers for it?
 
Again, if I remember, some work. Install Win7 and you may be surprised at how many things work just with the Win7 install drivers. Sound may be an issue, SD card reader and of course video always needs installing. I remember on one piece of hardware driving myself crazy looking for some 64 bit driver only to finally try the 32 and it worked fine.

If you have room just install Win7 dual boot. After you like Win7, blow Vista off. Just remember to fix your boot file first before you delete Vista just to be safe. Vista Boot Pro is a great little portable boot file fixer. I've done this on three systems and had zero issues. Vista is fine and Win7 is no life changing event but probably worth the effort.
 
I am willing to sell my non-functioning Everex XT5000T for $49.99 or best offer. Basically, it's the same issue with the GPU dying. I am not interested in disassembling the laptop, tried to initially but gave up and I am no longer interested since I got a Dell 17" laptop with a better GPU (ATI 3650) that never runs as hot as the Everex. I have lost all my patience with fixing the Everex. I will include everything that originally came with the laptop including the HD plus the extra 1GB for a total of 2GB. So if anyone is interested please PM me. Thanks.
 
I am at the FTP site and downloading it all. I'll have to find out later what it all is then compress and setup some type of distrobution. Just incase FIC takes them down......

Edit;

Got the files, huge download from the FTP that was not too cooperative either. Zipped them up as Vista_X64 and Vista_X86. They seem to be what you would see originally on the drive. Huge zips too, 145 megs for X86 and 154 megs for X64.

I'm in PA for the weekend on a slow DSL so it will be a while before I can get them up for those having conection issues as I had with the FTP. Please be patient but I will get them up, expect a huge download though......... :)
 
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I think it wasn't meant as a support FTP but rather a file archive for the original install folders included on the OS imaged drives. Not a handy thing to download. I have 1,500GB download traffic allowance a month on my server so I should be able to host these. Remember people I do this for free so get the files but be considerate of others and don't download them like a thousand times...............

I think though if you have a XT5000T, that is still in service, you should get the files and save them somewhere............ :)

They are up, www.pcambrosia.com/XT5000T/default.htm ..................
 
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Down8 said:
Thanks TANWare.

The way they cut up the files is ridiculous.
Click to expand...

Yeah the dirvers individually as the files and folders would be on your HDD after a reinstall with their recovery disc but nothing for bios etc..........
 
Only a few people have seemed to have DL'd the files, if you are having troubles let me know
Thanks.............
 
My XT5300 is still kicking. It's stock except for an additional HDD and 4GB of RAM. Regardless of which video driver from Nvidia I use, I seem to always have an issue watching HD video. Whether it's via Flash or lately I've been trying to watch 720/1080p Blue Ray rips using VLC Player or CCCP from the HDD, the frame rate is terrible and some videos will even cause Windows to hang.

Here's an example of a video that looks awful and freezes Windows (due to it's high resolution):

http://vimeo.com/7809605

Any ideas?

PS, when playing videos (via browser or VLC, etc), I'm seeing nearly 100% CPU use (usually 90%+). I have the options in VLC set to use "video overlay" which means it should be using the GPU, but maybe it's not?

Edit:

I was able to get the video that I linked, above, for long enough to record temps. Do these look all that bad? They're only about 8 degrees C higher than idle temps. I use a Zalman laptop cooler too.

post-781-1263073877.jpg
post-781-1263074289.jpg


What's with the "-112Mhz"?

Currently I'm using the latest video driver for Windows Vista 32 from Nvidia's website.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
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Danny Bui suggested Flash 10.1 (still in beta) for the streaming of high res vids and MPC-HC as a media player for the high res rips. Both are now utilizing my video card and the vids play flawlessly. :)
 
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